Welcome to the Piano World Piano ForumsOver 2 million posts about pianos, digital pianos, and all types of keyboard instruments
Join the World's Largest Community of Piano Lovers
(it's free)
It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

You don't have to "figure it out." Just continue adding enharmonic keys around the circle of fifths - so you pair Gb and F#, Db and C#, like usual, but then just keep going - Ab and G#, Eb and D#, Bb and A#, F and E#, C and B#, G and Fx (!), and you can even keep going after that - D and Cx, A and Gx, E and Dx, B and Ax, F# and Ex, etc, etc, etc. For example, Dx major consists of Dx, Ex, F#x, Gx, Ax, Bx, C#x, Dx - the same notes as E major (or Fb major, or Gbbb major, but those are another thing altogether.)

Polyphonist, your post constitutes a type of "figuring it out", even if honed into a brief procedure. It's still figuring and calculating. It may not be so for you -- you might just have all the double sharp scales memorized. But if you're determining the notes of the double sharp scale on the fly from another scale, then that's still "figuring it out."

There's a great deal to be said for knowing more than one way to figure something out. So while your method may be useful, it's also useful to know other methods.

You don't have to "figure it out." Just continue adding enharmonic keys around the circle of fifths - so you pair Gb and F#, Db and C#, like usual, but then just keep going - Ab and G#, Eb and D#, Bb and A#, F and E#, C and B#, G and Fx (!), and you can even keep going after that - D and Cx, A and Gx, E and Dx, B and Ax, F# and Ex, etc, etc, etc. For example, Dx major consists of Dx, Ex, F#x, Gx, Ax, Bx, C#x, Dx - the same notes as E major (or Fb major, or Gbbb major, but those are another thing altogether.)

Or just take A major (3 sharps) and lift it all up one half by adding 1 sharp to all notes

Awkwerti Bass: when the left hand starts playing Alberti bass in a piece that doesn't call for it. A student came up with that maybe 2 years ago and I still giggle about it.

_________________________
Heather W. Reichgott, piano http://heatherwreichgott.blogspot.comWorking on: How To Succeed In Business Without Really TryingSchumann/KinderszenenI love Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and new music